The Ebola virus is likely to be eradicated once for all as a new vaccine developed against the disease by Public Health Agency of Canada has shown 100 % efficiency in a trial that was carried out in Guinea.
The preliminary data extracted from the vaccination of 4,000 people suggest that the vaccine “works to protect” humans from the Ebola attack.
The scientific accomplishment, which has been authenticated by the medical journal, The Lancet , is likely to bring the West African epidemic to an end.
Bertrand Draguez, Medical Director at Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), who led the platform on experimental tools for Ebola, told The Lancet that the magnitude of emergency caused by Ebola should “lead us to continue using this vaccine right now to protect those who might get exposed to the disease.”
“This is an extremely promising development,” said Margarat Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “This credit goes to Guinean government, the people living in the communities and our partners in this project.”
Since the epidemic is sporadic, breaking out in a few “hotspots” of West Africa, the trial was jointly performed by Guinean authorities, WHO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) and Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
A dummy virus (vesicular stomatitis virus, or VSV) was designed with diluted elements of Ebola. As the risk-free virus enters a human body, it alarms the immune system, which launches a scathing attack on the intruder, killing it along with the deadly Ebola virus.
Until July 26, about 11,279 people have died from 27, 748 Ebola infected cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.
The scientists have deployed “the ring” vaccination methodology in the vaccine trial, which means, 4000 people who had had a minimum or a maximum contact with 100 diseased persons were vaccinated with VSV. The scientists observed that the vaccinated community blocked the virus. One person complained about fever, which wasn’t worrying since it subsided naturally.
Guinea’s gift to world “This is Guinea’s gift to West Africa and the world,” said Dr. Sakoba Keita, Guinea’s national coordinator for the Ebola response. “The thousands of volunteers from Conakry and other areas of Lower Guinea, but also the many Guinean doctors, data managers and community mobilisers have contributed to finding a line of defence against a terrible disease.”
The three-day vaccination trial between March 23 and 26 will be expanded soon to 13 to 17-year-olds. The scientists are also deliberating upon whether to include 6 to 12-year-olds in the experimentation as well.
